Tag Archive for: Rainy Day Women mystery

What a Difference a Year Makes

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By Kay Kendall

Last December my
husband and I were running an endurance test. He underwent three months of
daily radiation treatment plus chemo for his neck cancer. This understandably obliterated
the entire holiday season. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s. Everything. By
my birthday around Valentine’s Day, he was beginning to feel a tiny bit better.


During his
treatments, every day I drove him to world-famous, justly revered MD Anderson
Cancer Center, and every day we passed by the same Christmas decorations. Our
favorites were the most lifelike eight reindeer of Santa’s that you would ever
hope to see—short of the real animals. They were so splendid that they cheered
us up as we passed them each day. 

Well, Santa’s reinder are back
again now. And as much as I’d like to wipe out that awful time last year, this
holiday season is bringing it back to me in full, pulsating detail. Instead of
being depressed by the memories, however, I am determined to wallow—yes,
wallow!—in thankfulness.

I am thankful that
the specialty hospital is only eight miles from our home. For family and
friends

New Orleans French Quarter at Christmas**

who stood by Bruce and me as we crawled through the long tunnel of
those months and out into the light. For being able to participate this year in
the travel plans we had made for last year’s Christmas in New Orleans. 

Still, this season
is bittersweet. The good friend who took us into her family last year at
Thanksgiving and Christmas has lost her own battle with cancer. Another friend
was in a dreadful wreck on an interstate in New Mexico and will suffer the
consequences of his many cracked bones and torn aorta for the rest of his life, even though he
was quote-unquote lucky to survive. 
Lots of old sayings
rush back into my head now. Like—you have to take the good with the bad. Life
has its ups and downs. And so forth.
Truth to tell, I
get a bit scared when I contemplate the coming year, 2016. What will it bring?
Will I be ready for whatever comes my way? That’s when I just have to shut down
the Nervous Nellie part of my brain—and it is a pretty huge part, I admit—and adhere
firmly to the view that my cup is going to be half-full, not half-empty, come
what may. Even if I cannot convince myself that “my cup runneth over.”
Excuse me if I am
dwelling too much in platitudes. But I am telling you what is in my heart and
in my mind these days. I also must add the joy I felt at the grocery store two
hours ago when the customers smiled kindly at each other, the holiday music
played, and a toddler kept bringing me items from her mom’s shopping cart. She
was so sweet and charming. And best of all,
**our weeklong visit to wonderful New
Orleans with family—including our two delightful grandchildren. Kids at
Christmas are delightful. Their joy is contagious. 
As the tee shirts
say—Life is good. It has to be. The only other alternative is unacceptable, and
will come all too soon to each of us anyway. 
So, however and
whatever you celebrate this season, I hope you enjoy yourself and have family
and friends to do it with. I look forward to chatting with you again in 2016—which
I hope will be bright and healthy for us all. Rock on!
~~~~~~~

Kay Kendall’s historical mysteries capture the spirit and turbulence of the 1960s. DESOLATION ROW (2013) and RAINY DAY WOMEN (2015) are in her Austin Starr Mystery series. Austin is a 22-year-old Texas bride who ends up on the frontlines of societal change, learns to cope, and turns amateur sleuth. Kay’s degrees in Russian history and language help ground her tales in the Cold War, and her titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff too. Kay lives in Texas with her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. In her former life as a PR executive, Kay’s projects won international awards.

Tis the Season!

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By Kay Kendall

Now
that December has arrived, the holiday season has truly begun. And I love every
bit of it, even when nighttime comes early. After all, this means that now the festive lights are visible
as early as six in the evening.
But it’s odd. Tis the season to be jolly, and yet I am still
spending my time figuring out how to kill off characters who reside within my
work in progress. 
Mystery
writers are a strange breed. This fact I discovered in the process of becoming
one. Last fall I got on an elevator at a mystery fan conference and announced
to another participant that my roomie and I “kill people for a living.” Then I
guffawed. I thought everyone in the elevator was attending our crime writers’
convention and would understand, but I was wrong. Some were not. One woman fled from the elevator as
soon as its doors opened. I must have scared her silly. (Really, it’s amazing what
we crime writers talk about–how to kill people and let our criminals almost get away
with murder—almost, but not quite.)

Another
thing I learned while transforming myself from a public relations professional
into a mystery author was that I needed to smooth out my habits. Previously my
work methods featured intense bursts of creativity and fascination with large,
innovative projects, followed by fallow periods when I regrouped. That style was
exciting. Maintenance projects bored me. I was a hare, not a tortoise.


While
I realized I might be able to produce
one book in a frenzy of late nights, caffeinated days, and ignored loved ones,
that was no way to build a sustainable career, writing book after book. So, I
plotted my new path. 

As
I moved along toward the publication of my debut novel Desolation Row in 2013, I developed new patterns that enabled the
publication in July 2015 of Rainy Day
Women, the second in the Austin Starr Mystery series. Remember the old axiom “slow and steady wins the race?” Those became
my new watchwords.And I am so glad I changed. It means that this month I
can revel in the joy of the holiday season, making time for parties and gift
wrapping and egg nog drinking and the like.
I
admit that the old myth of the author writing a book in a white-hot fit of
inspiration still appeals to me, but I’ve trained myself to see that sanity and
calmness and balance have their rewards too. So, like we used to say back in
the day, here’s my new motto — just keep on truckin’.
~~~~~~~

Kay Kendall’s historical mysteries capture the spirit and turbulence of the 1960s. Kay’s degrees in Russian history and language help ground her tales in the Cold War, and her titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff too. DESOLATION ROW (2013) and RAINY DAY WOMEN (2015) are in her Austin Starr Mystery series. Austin is a 22-year-old Texas bride who ends up on the frontlines of societal change, learns to cope, and turns amateur sleuth. Kay lives in Texas with her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. In her former life as a PR executive, Kay’s projects won international awards.

A Master Class in Mystery Writing

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By Kay Kendall

Are you a fan of Laura Lippman’s detective
stories or Megan Abbott’s crime novels? Do you ever wonder how they manage to
draw you into a web of intrigue, book after book—holding you spellbound,
keeping you reading way past your bedtime? Lucky me, I got to learn some of
their secrets last Saturday in New Orleans.

That’s where Laura Lippman and Megan
Abbott were joined by other award-

Back l-r: Bill Loefhelm, Laura Lippman,
Megan Abbott,  Alison Gaylin.
Front: organizer Greg Herren.
Not pictured: Alison Gaylin
and moderator Susan Larson.

winning authors Alison Gaylin, Bill Loefhelm,
and Erica Spindler in presenting a seminar designed to teach the essential
skills needed to write a novel. In a program sponsored by Mystery Writers of
America, these five bestselling novelists instructed us participants how to
move from the idea stage all the way through to final editing. And clearly, they
know their stuff. The awards and accolades among them include the Anthony
Award, Agatha Award, Daphne du Maurier Award, Edgar Award, Nero Wolfe Award, Shamus
Award, Strand Magazine’s Novel of the Year, and the International Thriller
Writers Award for Best Novel. Here are just a few of many points made by these talented
authors. <For more background on each author, see http://mysterywriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Teacher-Bios-Website.pdf> 

Megan Abbott began by suggesting ways to expand on
your book idea, confiding that her inspiration often comes from news items. She
doesn’t
always begin at the beginning of a book, instead starting by writing
about what has inspired her—a murder, a rumored sexual encounter. She ran us through
exercises that got our creativity flowing.
Laura Lippman talked about the importance of proper
plotting and shared her method for diagraming plots. She said that if you get
stuck in writing your book, it usually means that you’ve taken a wrong turn in
your plotting, and you must fix it before you can continue. When she sees
something wrong in her diagrams, then she knows where the problem lies. “There are no
formulas,” she said. “The only thing that carries over is that I have finished
writing a book before, so I figure I can do it again.”
Erica Spindler discussed the use of setting and details to
ramp up tension. She quoted Stephen King, who said, “I write about the thing
under the bed.” She said, “I write about the wolf in sheep’s clothing, in other
words the friendly neighbor who turns out to be Ted Bundy.” Details added to a
story must do one of two things—either effect one or more characters, or, move
the plot forward. So, identify and chop extraneous details.  
Bill Loefhelm examined the critical area of character
development. “The trick to writing a successful series,” he said, “is to create
characters that people want to return to. That is the most effective tool for
storytelling.” One way of doing this is to take a tried-and-true one—think Sherlock,
Batman, Superman—and make the tired character new, fresh, twisted. Dialogue is
an important way to show character, but he cautioned not to overdo accents or
slang. A little goes a long way.
Alison Gaylin switched from discussing writing a book to
rewriting it. After your first draft is completed, she said to go back and do
these things. Drop clichés and tropes. Get rid of info dumps—dribble out crucial
backstory details throughout the whole book instead.
The seminar concluded with a discussion among the instructors,
moderated by Susan Larson, two-time chair of the jury for the Pulitzer Prize
for Fiction and book review editor for The
New Orleans Times-Picayune for 22 years. The focus was on the idea of a
muse as inspiration for writing. What stuck with me came from Bill Loefhelm,
who didn’t buy into the muse concept. However, if there was one, he said she would
be like Rosie the Riveter, with her sleeves rolled up, ready to work with him
when he came to her, when he was willing to work hard on his writing.
Greg Herren organized this wonderful day of
learning. He is outgoing president of the Southwest Chapter of Mystery Writers
of America and an award-winning New Orleans author of two mystery series, among
his other writing activities. This program is called MWA-U, Mystery Writers of
America University. Find it online here — https://mysterywriters.org/mwa-university/about-mwa-university/

~~~~~~~ 

Kay Kendall’s historical mysteries capture the spirit and turbulence of the
1960s. DESOLATION ROW (2013) and RAINY DAY WOMEN (2015) are in her Austin Starr
Mystery series. Austin is a 22-year-old Texas bride who ends up on the
frontlines of societal change, learns to cope, and turns amateur sleuth. Kay’s
degrees in Russian history and language help
ground her tales in the Cold War, and her titles show she’s a Bob Dylan
buff too. Kay lives in Texas with her Canadian husband, three house rabbits,
and spaniel Wills. In her former life as a PR executive, Kay’s projects won
international awards.

 

SHARING WITH STEPHEN KING

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By Kay Kendall

Never before have I imagined I shared anything with Stephen
King.
STEPHEN KING
He is very famous. I am not. His mind spins out inventive books in record time. I am a slow writer. King has published 54
novels and nearly 200 short stories. Kendall has published two novels and one
short story.
And yet, and yet. Yesterday I read Stephen King’s interview in
The New York Times and learned how we
are alike. Needless to say, I am thrilled.
What we have in common is not an ordinary habit. It’s
nothing like a preference for one kind of peanut butter over another—crunchy
versus smooth. Nope. Our shared pattern is pretty significant. Our minds are
involved—and so are our writing tendencies.
Here is the relevant passage from the interview:
Q. You’ve said that when you’re
not writing, if you have a break between books, you have especially vivid
dreams. Why do you think that is?
A. You get habituated to the
process, which is very mysterious, but it’s very much like dreaming…Once the
book is done, the stories are done, you don’t have anything in particular that
you want to do. The process goes on, but it goes on at night, your brain does
that, and you have the dreams. When I write again, it stops.
And this same thing happens to me too. Yes,
it does!
You may be thinking that this happens to other writers too,
but I have yet to come across another author with this pattern. When I explain how
and why my most vivid dreams start and stop, people tend to stare at me strangely.
I hope it doesn’t seem like I’m clutching at straws, putting
myself in the same camp as this super-gifted writer, Mr. King. But what it does
is give me impetus to keep on writing. This is surely a sign that means I am
doing what I was meant to do. I write. I make up stories. I mix fact and
fantasy and call it fiction.
Just as I did when my mother insisted that I take a daily
nap every afternoon when I was much too old to nap. I would lie there for the
requisite hour and spin endless stories to entertain myself. I am doing the
same thing still, now that I am all grown up.

~~~~~~~

Kay Kendall’s historical mysteries
capture the spirit and turbulence of the 1960s. DESOLATION ROW (2013) and RAINY
DAY WOMEN (2015) are in her Austin Starr Mystery series. Austin is a
22-year-old Texas bride who ends up on the frontlines of societal change,
learns to cope, and turns amateur sleuth. Kay’s degrees
in Russian history and language help ground her tales in the Cold War, and her
titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff too. Kay lives in Texas with her Canadian
husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. In her former life as a PR
executive, Kay’s projects won international awards.

Bouchercon 2015 Redux

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By Kay Kendall

I know, I know. You may be asking yourself right now…”What in heck is a Bouchercon?” When I was new to the mystery-writing scene, I asked myself that too. Now I know it’s the world’s largest mystery fan-and-writers conference, held yearly in different cities, and offering one fattening feast for the mystery-lover’s soul!

Actually the full name of this beloved conference is quite a mouthful: Anthony Boucher Memorial World Mystery Convention. No wonder it is AKA Bouchercon! This yearly event honors Anthony Boucher (pseudonym of William Anthony Parker White, 1911-1968). He was a writer, editor, and critic of science fiction and mystery who became known as the cornerstone of modern mystery analysis. He championed crime-writing greats long before the mainstream literary establishment recognized their talents and remained an indefatigable fan and insightful reviewer of all kinds of crime fiction.  From the 1940s until the end of his life, he reviewed mysteries and science fiction for The New York Times and other US papers. He helped found Mystery Writers of America in 1946 and served as its president in 1951. The Anthony Awards are also named for him and are given out each year at, naturally, the Anthony Boucher Memorial World Mystery Convention.

Panel discussions held on a wide variety of topics form the backbone of the conference and are designed to encourage interaction among readers and writers. Typically four or more panels are concurrent, and my heart broke when some of my faves were up against each other at the most recent Bouchercon, held in Raleigh NC October 8-11.

In the last five years I’ve attended four Bouchercons–the first two as an aspiring author and the last two as a published author. At both of these last two cons, I’ve participated on a panel.

This year I moderated a panel on historical mysteries, called The Past Is Never Dead. Author-panelists Joyce Elson Moore, Rosemary Poole-Carter, Deanna Raybourn, and Holly West spoke passionately about the historic periods and characters they write about, and the audience responded enthusiastically. The large room was packed, and no one left. And that fact alone is amazing. Afterwards members of the audience came to tell us how much they enjoyed our talk, and we five left on a high, eager to have a repeat performance at next year’s Bouchercon.

GAYLE LYNDS, queen of spy fiction

Speaking of which–the overall buzz is already high about Bouchercon 2016, to be held in New Orleans September 15-18. The conference hotel is almost filled up, a whole year out, which is almost unheard of.

No doubt next year’s location will be terrific, but the event itself will have a hard time matching this year’s programming. Many famous authors were there, but if forced to pick a favorite panel I’d choose the one about espionage fiction, before and after the Edward Snowden top security breaches. Everyone on this panel had some experience in the spy field, from a former CIA analyst to a US marshall retired. Authors were Gayle Lynds (called the queen of spy fiction), Terry Shames, Marc Cameron, Susan Elia MacNeal, and moderator Mark Greaney. The book I’m writing now has a spy theme so you know I was really enthralled. And if you’ve never attended a Bouchercon before, I encourage you to consider going one of these years. You are guaranteed to be equally enthralled.
~~~~~~~

KAY KENDALL

Kay Kendall’s historical
mysteries capture the spirit and turbulence of the 1960s. Kay’s degrees in Russian history and language
help ground her tales in the Cold War, and her titles show she’s a Bob
Dylan buff too. DESOLATION ROW (2013) and RAINY DAY WOMEN (2015) are in her
Austin Starr Mystery series. Austin is a 22-year-old Texas bride who ends up on
the frontlines of societal change, learns to cope, and turns amateur sleuth. Kay
lives in Texas with her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel
Wills. In her former life as a PR executive, Kay’s projects won international
awards.

I’d Rather Be Writing

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By Kay Kendall

When USA Today bestselling author  Lois Winston
invited me to participate in her new cookbook adventure, I jumped at the chance.
After all, the title captured my feelings exactly—WE’D RATHER BE WRITING, subtitled 88 Authors Share Timesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips.
You can pre-order the eBook for 99 cents
and receive it on October 30. A portion of proceeds will be donated to No Kid Hungry. Most of us authors juggle day jobs and
family responsibilities along with our writing. Because we need to find time to
write, we search for ways to save time. And cooking takes up such a huge chunk.

However, you don’t need to be a multi-tasking
author to need time-saving recipes and tips, so in our new cookbook you’ll find
easy, nutritious recipes for meat, poultry, pasta, soup, stew, chili, and
vegetarian meals. The recipes require a minimum of preparation, freeing time to
do other things—to read, exercise, garden, craft, write, spend more time with
family, or whatever.

The 88 participating
authors make up a varied group, writing a wide range of fiction—everything from
mystery to romance to speculative fiction to books for children, young adults,
and new adults—and some who write nonfiction. Some write sweet; others write
steamy. Some write cozy; others write tense thrillers. Some are debut authors
with only one published book; others are multi-published and have had long
publishing careers. And, while some are even New York
Times and USA Today bestselling
authors, even they still need to perform feats of juggling
daily.

We like to think
of ourselves as a rather creative and resourceful bunch when it comes to
carving out time from our busy lives. So in addition to timesaving recipes, we
have added timesaving organizational tips too.

Check this list of
contributing authors to see whose names your recognize: Lisa Alber, Reggi
Allder, Judy Alter, Krista Ames, Rose Anderson, Cori Lynn Arnold, Judy Baker,
Beverley Bateman, Donnell Ann Bell, Paula Gail Benson, Kris Bock, Maureen
Bonatch, Ava Bradley, Susan Breen, Lida Bushloper, Michelle Markey Butler,
Ashlyn Chase, Judy Copek, Maya Corrigan, Mariposa Cruz, Melinda Curtis, Lesley
A. Diehl, Conda V. Douglas, Nancy Eady, Helena Fairfax, Jennifer Faye, Flo
Fitzpatrick, Kit Frazier, Shelley Freydont, Mariana Gabrielle, Rosie Genova,
Marni Graff, Joanne Guidoccio, Margaret S. Hamilton, L.C. Hayden, Linda Gordon
Hengerer, Heather Hiestand, R.Franklin James, Kathryn Jane, M.M. Jaye,
Elizabeth John, Stacy Juba, Gemma Juliana, Carol Goodman Kaufman, Melissa Keir,
Kay Kendall, A.R. Kennedy, Lynn Kinnaman, Marie Laval, B.V. Lawson, Claudia
Lefeve, Alice Loweecey, Cynthia Luhrs, Sandra Masters, Lisa Q. Mathews, J.M.
Maurer, Sandra McGregor, Kathy McIntosh, Claire A. Murray, Ann Myers, Tara
Neale, Stacey Joy Netzel, Jayne Ormerod, Alice Orr, Laurel Peterson, Irene
Peterson, Pepper Phillips, Caridad Pineiro, Kathryn Quick, Renée Reynolds,
Josie Riviera, Elizabeth Rose, C.A. Rowland, Cindy Sample, Sharleen Scott,
Terry Shames, Susan C. Shea, Judy Penz Sheluk, Joanna Campbell Slan, Karen Rose
Smith, Lynette Sofras, Kaye Spencer, Skye Taylor, Lourdes Venard, Lea Wait,
Regan Walker, Lois Winston, and Aubrey Wynne.

We’d Rather Be
Writing is available on
Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Wed-Rather-Be-Writing-Timesaving-ebook/dp/B01638N5PO

Part of proceeds will
be donated to No Kid Hungry < http://www.nokidhungry.org/>
 ~~~~~~~

Kay Kendall is a long-time fan of
historical novels and writes atmospheric mysteries that capture the spirit
and turbulence of the sixties. She is a reformed PR executive who lives in
Texas with her husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills.
Terribly
allergic to her bunnies, she loves them anyway! Her book titles show she’s a
Bob Dylan buff too. RAINY DAY WOMEN published on July 7. It is
the second in her Austin Starr Mystery series.

Mystery Writers Who Inspired Me—Part 2

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By Kay Kendall


Donna Leon is the
author of 24 books in her mysteries series set in Venice, Italy. They feature
an Italian policeman, Commissario Guido Brunetti , as he maneuvers among
governmental corruption on all sides and tries to bring justice to a land where
few people expect it. Although Leon is American by birth, she has lived in
Venice for decades and knows the city well. Her books are especially popular in
Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Although translated into 20 languages, her
work is not available in Italian
because, she says, she dislikes being recognized when she is in public and
considers it an intrusion.


 
The Grand Canal in Venice

Much of the charm of reading Leon’s police procedurals comes from immersion
in another world so different in small ways from American or British policing. Brunetti
is of a philosophical bent, returning home to read the classical greats of
Roman literature to soothe his soul after viewing the worst that human
nature can do. At his apartment on Calle Tiepolo in the San Polo
district of Venice, he holds long discussions about life, literature, and various absurdities
of the modern world with his wife Paolo, a professor of literature at the local
university, and their two teenaged children, Raffi and Chiara. None of these
reoccurring characters age in these books. The first was published in 1992, Death at La Fenice, and the most recent
was published this year, Falling in Love.

Fans of slam bang thrillers may find these mysteries a bit languid.
For me, however, they offer a visit to a charming city that reeks of art and
antiquity. Brunetti understands human nature and is often sorrowful when he
uncovers the motives of killers. He dislikes the moneyed elite that has run
Venice for centuries, even though his wife Paolo is a daughter of Count Falier,
who lives in an elegant historic palazzo on the Grand Canal. Paolo would like nothing better than to sit all day reading and rereading the tomes of Henry James. Occasionally she too goes on a rampage for justice. She is no spoiled rich daughter, despite her being from ancient aristocracy.
Mystery author Donna Leon

I was once blessed to meet with Donna Leon when she visited
Houston for a book talk. Sitting by her side at lunch, I was delighted to soak
up her upbeat spirit she maintains despite the gloomy view of human nature evident
in her books. When asked about how she displays justice in her mysteries,
she stated that she believes Italians have no illusions, that they expect all politicians
to be corrupt. That given of Italian life she believes is “refreshing.”

The interplay among the big personalities in Guido Brunetti’s office is
fascinating. His boss Vice-Questore Patta dresses in Armani, hails from the
crooked and Mafia-ridden south, and lunches daily with Venetian bigwigs.  He may be shallow, vain, and a climber, yet he
is not all bad, nor is he evil. Patta’s secretary Signorina Elettra left a
lucrative financial job to employ her computer wizardry for serving justice,
and Brunetti never hesitates to ask her to hack into someone’s bank records.
The morals in these books are a little slippery, yet there is a consistent
decency to the actions of Brunetti, his family, secretary Signorina Elettra,
and Brunetti’s friend on the police force, Vianello. An air of sad resignation and
melancholy resides in the pages of these unique mysteries.
If you have not yet discovered the books of Donna Leon, I
recommend them to you. You will learn much about the fascinating and labyrinthine
world of Venice, both the high life and the low, and of human nature and all its dark foibles. Her books have inspired my writing because they delve into
philosophical and moral questions as well as present a richly detailed account
of a famous city. When I finally visited Venice three years ago, I felt I
understood it better because of Donna Leon’s writing. I have read all 24 books to date and look forward to the next in 2016. The only thing that makes me turn green with envy is when Donna Leon says she never does rewrites.
~~~~~~~

Kay Kendall is a long-time fan of
historical novels and writes atmospheric mysteries that capture the spirit
and turbulence of the sixties. She is a reformed PR executive who lives in
Texas with her husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Terribly
allergic to her bunnies, she loves them anyway! Her book titles show she’s a
Bob Dylan buff too. RAINY DAY WOMEN published on July 7. It is the
second in her Austin Starr Mystery series. The audio-book will debut
soon. 
http://www.amazon.com/Rainy-Day-Women-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00W2X5SCS

 
 

Mystery Writers Who Inspired Me—Part 1

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By Kay Kendall

Jacqueline Winspear is a marvelous author whose books have been
inspiring me for more than a decade. Most of the stories in her Maisie Dobbs
mystery series are set in England, and the series begins after the War to End
All Wars, which is alas now called World War One. The eleventh book in the
series came out this year.

Maisie Dobbs was a young nurse at the front, and her fiancé was
wounded in the fighting. In the first book, he is a hopeless invalid, unable to
speak and suffering from the gas attacks that occurred during the infamous
trench warfare. The initial offering—simply titled Maisie Dobbs—won many prizes for first novel and wide spread praise
from both reviewers and readers alike.

Author Jacqueline Winspear
What drew me into this mystery series was the depiction of
the ravages of war on those who did not fight. Winspear describes long-lasting
horrors that saddled a whole society after the war was won by the British and
their allies, the Americans, French and Russians. Calamitous events arose from
that disastrous war—the Russian Revolution, the Great Depression, and Hitler’s
rise.

Maisie becomes a private investigator and is taught how to
approach her cases from a psychological perspective by a wise, older male
mentor. The first books are set in the late 1920s and then carry into  the 1930s. We readers know that Europe is crawling
steadily toward another world war, and we see how Maisie adapts to changing
conditions and threats. Although several young men wish to wed her, she shies
away from commitment and maintains her independence steadfastly.  She helps others find happiness but doesn’t
seem able to do that for herself, at least in the area of romance.

I began reading these fine, unique mysteries by Jacqueline
Winspear before I began writing my own mysteries, and the more I read, the more
they inspired me. I wanted to develop my own tales to show another young woman
challenged by her own era’s battles—of war, politics, and changing values. It
is no exaggeration to say that without reading about Maisie Dobbs, I might
never have written about my own female amateur sleuth, Austin Starr.

Over the years I’ve been fortunate to hear Jacqueline
Winspear speak several times about the genesis of her series, how her own
grandfather survived his participation in World War One and how his military
service deeply affected her family. Plus, one of her grandmothers worked in a munitions
arsenal during the war and was partially blinded in an explosion. To commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of
the war, Winspear published a standalone novel last year set during the cataclysm.
Her historical research is personal and impeccable.

Recently, a funny thing happened. I believed that I had read
all the volumes in order and that I was totally up to date with Maisie’s doings—with
the exception of the eleventh escapade. I bought it and added it to my
to-be-read pile—the enormous stack at my bedside. Yet, one thing had always
puzzled me. There was a jump in Winspear’s storytelling. A squabble between
Maisie and her mentor was referenced, and I didn’t know what to make of it or
where it came from. There was also the introduction in the middle books of a
character treated as continuing but one I had not been introduced to before. I double-checked
to ensure I had read all the books in order and kept on reading them.

And then last week, a sale grabbed me. The audiobook version
of the third mystery, Pardonable Lies,
was offered at a deep discount. Since it had been about a decade since I first
read that book—or so I believed—I bought the CD and popped it into my car’s
audio disc player. Imagine my surprise—no, my shock!—when the plot was new. I
had never read Pardonable Lies. In it
Maisie and her mentor quarrel over national security matters and she reconnects
with an old friend from college. No wonder I didn’t know about those threads in
Maisie’s story. I had missed them entirely.

This is delightful serendipity, stumbling upon a lost
treasure that I didn’t even know I had misplaced. Now when I get into the car
and face Houston’s clogged traffic, I enjoy the ride. Perhaps I will reread all
the books, or listen to them in traffic.   

I heartily recommend this series to you. Find Maisie’s
stories listed in order here: http://www.jacquelinewinspear.com/novels.php
~~~~~~~
Kay Kendall is a long-time fan of
historical novels and writes atmospheric mysteries that capture the spirit
and turbulence of the sixties. She is a reformed PR executive who lives in
Texas with her husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Terribly allergic
to her bunnies, she loves them anyway! Her book titles show she’s a Bob Dylan
buff too. RAINY DAY WOMEN published in July. It is the second
in her Austin Starr Mystery series. The audiobook debuts soon. 
http://www.amazon.com/Rainy-Day-Women-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00W2X5SCS

Why Reading Is Good for Us

/in /by

By Kay Kendall

This is the
second of two installments about reading. Previously I described how much I
enjoy reading and tried to figure out how that came to pass. I am guessing most
of you also feel reading is enjoyable. For many people, however, reading is not
a pleasurable pastime.

Reading is
similar to chocolate. It tastes luscious to most people, but not to all. These
days, however, we know through research that chocolate is a healthy thing to
eat.

Scientific
researchers have likewise come up with reasons why we should read. Here is a curated list of reasons scientists say
reading should be done—not only for our enjoyment and increased knowledge, but
for our mental and physical well-being.

 1.
Reading is an effective way to overcome stress.
Researchers at the University of Sussex found that reading relaxed the heart
rate and muscle tension faster than other activities often said to be
de-stressors—for example taking a walk, listening to music, and drinking tea.
Note that the research was done in England, a bastion of tea drinkers, so this
is really saying something shocking.

 2. Reading exercises our
brains. As our bodies need movement to be strong, our brains need a
work out too. Reading is a more complex activity than watching television and
actually helps establish new neural pathways.

 3.
Reading helps maintain our brains’ sharpness. Neurologists
who studied brains of those who died around age 89 saw signs of a third less
decline among those who stayed mentally active with reading, writing, and other
modes of mental stimulation like puzzles, as compared to those who did little
or none of those activities.

 4. Reading may even ward off Alzheimer’s disease. Adults who pursue activities like reading or puzzles that involve the brain
are less likely to have Alzheimer’s disease. Intellectual activity not only
grows our brain power but also strengthens brain against disease.

5. Reading may help us sleep better. Reading before bed is a good
de-stressing habit, unlike watching flashing electronic devices or television
that cue the brain to wake up.

6. Reading self-help books can ease
depression. Reading
books that encourage people to take charge of their own lives can promote the
idea that positive change is possible. A control group that had “bibliotherapy”
combined with talk therapy was less depressed than another group that did not
read self-help literature.

7. Reading helps people become more empathetic.
Spending time exploring an author’s imagination helps people understand other
people’s points of view and problems. Researchers in the Netherlands performed
experiments showing that people who were “emotionally transported” by
a work of fiction experienced boosts in empathy.

8.
Reading can develop and improve a good self-image. Poor readers or non-readers often have
low opinions of themselves and their abilities. Reading helps people understand
their own strength and abilities, hence growing better self-images.

So next time you feel remorse when
you’ve spent all day reading a new book, just remember these eight
reasons–and then your guilt should vanish. Getting swept away by a compelling
story line or character in a wonderful book is not only entertaining but also
is actually good for you.

Which of these reasons resonates
most with you? From the list above, I picked two favorites. I’ll tell
you mine if you’ll tell me yours! How about it?

*******


Kay Kendall is a long-time fan of historical novels and writes atmospheric mysteries that capture the spirit and turbulence of the sixties. She is a reformed PR executive who lives in Texas with her husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Terribly allergic to her bunnies, she loves them anyway! Her book titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff too. RAINY DAY WOMEN published on July 7–the second in her Austin Starr Mystery series. The audio-book will debut soon. 

http://www.amazon.com/Rainy-Day-Women-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00W2X5SCS

Why I Love to Read

/in /by

By Kay Kendall

I can’t recall a time when I didn’t love to lose myself in
books. Reading is so much a part of me that I take it for granted—like breathing,
sleeping, eating.

If you take something for granted, then you usually never
stop to question why you are doing that activity. Certainly that was true for
me and my passion for books for the longest time. Lately, however, I’ve
wondered why I developed this habit of avid reading. Why books and not
something else? And to say merely that I ENJOY books and that’s why I read begs
the question.
Then the question becomes this instead: Why do I enjoy
reading?
Some people have calm, placid minds. I do not. My mind hops
around from subject to subject, questioning what it notices, absorbing everything
and wanting to learn more. When nothing is going on around me, then I spin
stories. This also was true for me as long as I can remember.
I was an only child and had to run outside to find
playmates. As a member of the baby boom generation, I had plenty of other children
nearby and was fortunate in that regard. However, when I was forced to take an
hour-long nap every afternoon during the summer, I never slept. I was always so
bored and entertained myself making up stories to while away the time.
Compared with diversions available to children these days, I
didn’t have many. My home lacked a television set until I was eight years old.
However, there were plenty of books. My parents read constantly and gave me books to
read. I suppose my mother must have read to me initially, but I must confess
that I can’t recall back that far. Both sets of my grandparents gave me books,
but as to which came first, those gifts or being given books because I showed
interest in them, I cannot say. The Carnegie Library was my home away from home.
What I do recall is escaping into other worlds
when I read. I consumed books like candy. I was hungry for escape and
entertainment and learning. I have always loved learning new things—mostly about
people, not so much about science and technical things. I wanted to learn about
all the people in the world and how they differed and what made them so.
My Kansas hometown of 12,000 people was too small for me. I
wanted to learn about the whole wide world. By default, Dallas, Texas, became my
mecca as we motored there several times a year to see my paternal grandparents.
They were also keen readers. Perhaps reading was a part of my DNA. My Texas grandparents kept every issue of The National Geographic that entered their home over the course of many decades, and their set of Harvard Classics lives today in my own living room.
Some of my childhood friends still love to read too, but others
never did and don’t now. This difference puzzled me for some time, but these
days, when I look at next-door neighbors and see how little the parents read, I
surmise that their children won’t become readers either. I don’t see magazines
or books in their home, and I’ve been going over there for more than a decade,
so I should know. The two children appear to read only when they’re doing their
homework or playing games on iPods. They get lost in their digital world the
way I used to get lost in my literary one and still do.
Maybe that is the reason for the big difference right there.
What your parents do informs who you are. For example, my son and his wife (an
English major in college and now a technical editor) are raising my two
grandchildren in a home stuffed with books. My daughter-in-law read to their
first child almost from the moment he was born. He taught himself to read by
the age of four and now at age seven tears through at least three books a week.
To protect the family budget, an E-reader was purchased in order to keep the
costs down of supplying my grandson with books to read. His online wish list
always holds at least twenty books.
In the end, I am not sure I have answered my own question—why
I love to read—but I am sure of one thing. This love of mine has already gone
on to the next two generations. And I am content.
(In my next piece on the Stiletto Gang blog, I will consider
why “experts say” reading is good for us.)

*******
Kay Kendall is a long-time fan of historical novels and writes atmospheric mysteries that capture the spirit and turbulence of the sixties. She is a reformed PR executive who lives in Texas with her husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Terribly allergic to her bunnies, she loves them anyway! Her book titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff too. RAINY DAY WOMEN published on July 7–the second in her Austin Starr Mystery series. The audio-book will be out soon. 
http://www.amazon.com/Rainy-Day-Women-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00W2X5SCS